Chapter 3. Joining the Show

Chapter 3. Joining the Show

Perhaps because of how utterly unexpected it was, the news struck a deep chord with users. This kind of arrangement pushed the hype to its peak, catapulting the official divorce statement straight to the number-one spot on the trending list that evening.

As for one of the main culprits behind the commotion, Rita at that moment was gently patting her satisfied tummy, sinking into a beanbag chair with a soft sigh. Next to the item "pork ribs" on her personal recipe study checklist, she put a bold checkmark—V!

Although she had topped the search queries, Rita herself remained remarkably unfazed. If anything, she felt a sense of closure: it seemed that after this incident, her paths with Arman would part for good and everything would truly be over.

However, time went on. Rita's culinary skills improved day by day, her scripts were studied inside and out, but the long-awaited notification about the start of the drama's filming never arrived. Instead, a message popped up from Lana regarding participation in a reality show.

Lana: Rita, get ready. In a few days, you're going to participate in a program, and the filming will take about a month. It's a divorce show.

If she remembered correctly, the last time Rita participated in any kind of show was about a year ago. Most of the time, those were background roles with no decent screen time or lines, filming took half a day at most, and after a couple of those episodes failed to spark any reaction, no one offered her anything else.

Projects lasting an entire month felt like something completely out of the ordinary to Rita. But the moment she learned the format of the show, total bewilderment filled her mind: a divorce involved two people, would Arman really be participating in the program as well? Given that he spent the whole year swamped at work to the point where people barely saw his face, that was hard to believe.

Nevertheless, official information about the show soon appeared online. The cast of the show, titled "We Are Divorced", turned out to be truly star-studded: the directing producer was a famous master of entertainment programs, and major investors stood behind it, with Storm Media Group holding the lion's share—the project was practically produced under their aegis.

However, this didn't surprise Rita in the least: Storm had a presence, in one form or another, in almost all major dramas and shows in the industry.

Far more curious was the list of invited guests. Aside from two pairs of famous divorced celebrity couples, Rita and Arman were on it as well. Most likely, Rita had secured her invitation straight to the limelight thanks to the recent leak scandal, but Arman's name was listed among the participants completely officially.

Given the sheer absurdity of it all, it wasn't just Rita—netizens everywhere were sitting with giant question marks plastered across their faces! Just think about it: Arman Stark wasn't some run-of-the-mill media celebrity. As the head of Storm Media Group, he had absolutely no need to flash his face on a reality show for fame or money. So why the hell did he agree? Absolutely no one could wrap their heads around the logic behind this move.

“Arman Stark? Are you sure these aren't just people with the same name?”

“Is he actually going on the show? Did he come to taste what regular life is like?”

“Aren't corporate bosses supposed to be busy out of their minds? Won't it turn out that we'll only be seeing Rita Lenz on camera?”

Amidst the fierce speculation and guesses in the comments, the official announcement of the program dropped. The project's slogan sounded as formal and transparent as possible:

“Why are divorce rates breaking all records in modern society? What are the true causes of such a persistent trend? Watch the show 'We Are Divorced' and let's figure it out together~”

A week later, packed with her suitcase, Rita set off on time in a minivan. Lana, along with the driver, personally delivered her to the reality show's filming location.

Before Rita stepped out of the car, Lana squeezed her soft hand and gave her one last piece of advice:

"Relax. If anything happens, call me immediately."

Rita nodded and asked Lana to keep an eye out for news regarding the start of filming for her cooking drama. Although the manager thought the chances were slim—at least she wouldn't expect any news anytime soon—she still promised to keep her finger on the pulse. Lana watched Rita walk away and only then told the driver to pull away.

It is worth noting that before coming here, Rita hadn't received any script whatsoever, nor had she gone through any rehearsals. Unlike previous programs where the script and sequence of actions were run through multiple times, the degree of freedom here turned out to be unbelievably high.

As soon as she stepped into the shooting area, Rita, obeying her innate instincts, looked around. She naturally possessed a high sensitivity to lenses, so her gaze effortlessly swept across the spots where cameras were set up. It turned out that besides the open camera angles, hidden ones had been set up here as well. Rita blinked, failing to spot a single member of the production crew on site.

Only then did she remember that this time, filming was taking place in a live-stream format. Stopping all doubts and hesitation, the girl wheeled her suitcase toward a three-story mansion prepared by the production team. In front of the house spread a garden with a small fish pond, and behind it lay a cozy courtyard with a swimming pool. The scenery was picturesque, and the air incredibly fresh.

Meanwhile, viewers were gradually gathering in the online livestream rooms. When Rita's gaze slipped straight across the camera lens, the viewers sitting in front of their screens had their breath caught for a split second—there was an absolute sensation that they had been noticed and caught off guard...

“Damn! I just got shot dead by that look! OvO”

“I wonder what they've been feeding Rita Lenz? Why are her eyes practically glowing?”

“Ah, look at that fitted dress on Rita! That wasp waist—I'm literally dead!”

Especially when Rita also fluttered her eyelashes—many viewers who had switched to the hidden camera angle suddenly felt their hearts skip a beat. However, the audience quickly pulled themselves together: these hidden cameras were specially installed by the crew, and the participants couldn't possibly know about them, so... this was probably just a coincidence?

Stepping into the living room on the first floor of the mansion, Rita saw a pair of participants already sitting on the sofa. They were Lina Bark and Nicholas Sthen—famous performers who had met back in their college years. They had recorded quite a few albums together, and their love ballad duets had topped the charts for years. Back in the day, their high-profile wedding had made everyone around them envious, yet two years ago, for unknown reasons, they had abruptly announced their divorce.

After a brief introduction and greetings, Lina escorted Rita upstairs so she could drop off her suitcase. Once they sorted out her things, the girls headed back down to the living room.

By that time, Nicholas had already poured two glasses of water and thoughtfully prepared two plates of fruit: one had an assortment, and the other consisted exclusively of grapes. He placed the plate of grapes right in front of Lina.

"Have some fruit while we wait for the others," Nicholas offered.

Lina quietly replied, "Okay," and Rita thanked him.